26
Feb
About Me
Hi, I’m Josiah. I do a lot of different things, like music, programming, real estate investing, and stock trading. I also do some weird stuff like travel hacking, international diversification, and random other adventures like mountaineering and scuba diving. This site mostly serves as a springboard to my other projects (see below), though I hope to also use it as an anchor for my quantified self activities.
Life Ambitions
- To be involved in interesting projects and businesses all the time
- To be able to explore interesting places and do interesting things
- To be involved in the lives of other people like my grandparents were, mentoring and offering support wherever I can, and learning from others as I go
Current Projects
- Easycators: my ThinkOrSwim download site featuring indicators and such
- German language
- Multiple citizenships
- Another round-the-world trip, this time with my wife Tiffany
- Various quantified self pursuits while working on fat loss, muscle growth, and improving sleep
- A travel, investing, and personal development blog
History
- Born in 1983 in Charleston, WV
- Had free-spirited parents and moved all over the U.S. while growing up
- Learned to code in AppleSoft BASIC on my grandmother’s Apple IIgs at around 10-11 years old
- Spent most of my formative years on a hillside farm driving tractors, moving mountains, felling trees, and building things
- Spent my teen years learning music, being a worship leader, touring and singing harmony with all-vocal music groups, and finally launching a band called The Redding Brothers in 2003
- To help the band, I learned some basic web development with CMS like Joomla, WordPress, and Drupal
- Traveled to 10 countries with the band in 2008
- Passed real estate exam and got license in 2009, soon after the market crashed. Bought a few investment properties.
- Eventually went back to college in 2011
- Traveled around the globe in 2012 with my brother Micah, visiting 14 countries and meeting 1 Peruvian leprechaun
- Finished college in August 2013, earning a Bachelor of Business Administration in Computer Information Systems
- While in college, I started learning about technical day trading in stocks and other markets
- After college, I finished grad school in a year in 2014 with an M.S. in Computer Information Systems
- Have been trading, managing rental properties, and working on various web development projects ever since
Philosophy
- A different take on Christianity
- Ayn Rand’s Objectivism
- Austrian / Mengerian Economics – link1 | link2 | link3
Trivia
- I’m a PK / preacher’s kid
- Lived in 6 different states, multiple times: WV, OR, WA, OH, OK, TN
- My family lived in the loft of a barn for 3 months one winter when I was a kid
- Certified advanced open water diver
- I play one computer game only: Starcraft
- Travel experience in 48 U.S. states, 29 countries, 6 continents, and multiple war zones
- I’ve healed headaches, made it snow for Christmas, and seen a leprechaun 🙂
- Josiah = Yoshiyahu = יֹאשִׁיָהוּ = “Yahweh heals”
Personality
- INFJ ?
- Type 4 Enneagram ?
Stalk Me
- Personal Twitter – Thinkorswim Twitter
- Personal Facebook – Thinkorswim Facebook
- Thinkorswim Youtube
- MyFitnessPal
- Fitbit
- GoodReads
- TripIt
- Vimeo
- Flickr
- AllTrails
Visiting Every Country on Earth: My Travel Map
Countries I’ve Visited So Far:
- USA
- All 48 contiguous states
- Puerto Rico
- Canada
- British Columbia
- Alberta
- Ontario
- Quebec
- UK
- Australia
- New Zealand
- Armenia
- Germany
- Switzerland
- Austria
- Italy
- Spain
- Egypt
- Djibouti
- Jordan
- Saudi Arabia
- UAE
- Qatar
- Bahrain
- Kuwait
- Afghanistan
- Kyrgyzstan
- Russia
- Hong Kong
- Singapore
- Thailand
- Nepal
- Bangladesh
- Chile
- Peru
- Mexico
United States High Point Summits:
- Mt. Rainier, WA – August 3rd, 2018
- Black Mountain, KY – June 24th, 2020
- Mt. Rogers, VA – June 25th, 2020
- Mt. Mitchell, NC – June 25th, 2020
- Sassafras Mountain, SC – June 26th, 2020
- Brasstown Bald, GA – June 26th, 2020
- Clingman’s Dome, TN – June 27th, 2020
- Woodall Mountain, MS – July 11th, 2020
- Mount Magazine, AR – July 11th, 2020
- Black Mesa, OK – July 12th, 2020
- Wheeler Peak, NM – July 14th, 2020
- Humphrey’s Peak, AZ – July 16th, 2020
- Boundary Peak, NV – July 20th, 2020 – Also visited lowest point in U.S. at Death Valley near the same time
- Mt. Elbert, CO – July 30th, 2020
- Mt. Sunflower, KS – July 31st, 2020
- Taum Sauk Mountain, MO – August 1st, 2020
- Cheaha Mountain, AL – April 9th, 2021
- Britton Hill, FL – April 9th, 2021
- Guadalupe Peak, TX – June 9th, 2021
- Point Reno, Washington DC – June 15th, 2021
- Ebright Azimuth, DE – June 15th, 2021
- Mt. Frissell, CT – June 16th, 2021
- Mt. Graylock, MA – June 16th, 2021
- Mt. Marcy, NY – June 17th, 2021
- Mt. Mansfield, VT – June 18th, 2021
- Mt. Katahdin / Baxter Peak, ME – June 21st, 2021
- Mt. Washington, NH – June 22nd, 2021
- Jerimoth Hill, RI – June 22nd, 2021
- High Point, NJ – June 23rd, 2021
- Mt. Davis, PA – June 23rd, 2021
- Backbone Mountain (Hoye-Crest), MD – June 23rd, 2021
- Spruce Knob, WV – June 23rd, 2021
U.S. National Parks
Acadia National Park, MaineArches National Park, UtahBadlands National Park, South Dakota- Big Bend National Park, Texas
Biscayne National Park, Florida- Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park, Colorado
- Bryce Canyon National Park, Utah
- Canyonlands National Park, Utah
- Capitol Reef National Park, Utah
Carlsbad Caverns National Park, New Mexico- Channel Islands National Park, California
- Congaree National Park, South Carolina
- Crater Lake National Park, Oregon
Cuyahoga Valley National Park, OhioDeath Valley National Park, California and Nevada- Denali National Park, Alaska
- Dry Tortugas National Park, Florida
Everglades National Park, Florida- Gates of the Arctic National Park, Alaska
Gateway Arch National Park, Missouri- Glacier Bay National Park, Alaska
- Glacier National Park, Montana
Grand Canyon National Park, ArizonaGrand Teton National Park, Wyoming- Great Basin National Park, Nevada
- Great Sand Dunes National Park, Colorado
Great Smoky Mountains National Park, North Carolina and TennesseeGuadalupe Mountains National Park, Texas- Haleakala National Park, Hawaii
- Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, Hawaii
- Hot Springs National Park, Arkansas
- Indiana Dunes National Park, Indiana
- Isle Royale National Park, Michigan
Joshua Tree National Park, California- Katmai National Park, Alaska
- Kenai Fjords National Park, Alaska
- Kings Canyon National Park, California
- Kobuk Valley National Park, Alaska
- Lake Clark National Park, Alaska
- Lassen Volcanic National Park, California
Mammoth Cave National Park, Kentucky- Mesa Verde National Park, Colorado
Mount Rainier National Park, Washington- National Park of American Samoa, American Samoa
New River Gorge National Park, West VirginiaNorth Cascades National Park, WashingtonOlympic National Park, WashingtonPetrified Forest National Park, Arizona- Pinnacles National Park, California
Redwood National Park, CaliforniaRocky Mountain National Park, Colorado- Saguaro National Park, Arizona
Sequoia National Park, CaliforniaShenandoah National Park, Virginia- Theodore Roosevelt National Park, North Dakota
- Virgin Islands National Park, Virgin Islands
- Voyageurs National Park, Minnesota
- White Sands National Park, New Mexico
- Wind Cave National Park, South Dakota
- Wrangell-St. Elias National Park, Alaska
- White Dome Geyser in Yellowstone National Park
Yellowstone National Park, Idaho, Montana, and WyomingYosemite National Park, California- Zion National Park, Utah
Seven Wonders of the World
Great Pyramid of Giza, Egypt- Great Wall of China
Petra, JordanColosseum, Rome, ItalyChichen Itza, Yucatán, MexicoMachu Picchu, Cuzco Region, Peru- Taj Mahal, Agra, Uttar Pradesh, India
- Christ the Redeemer, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
My Fitness Goals
You can read more about my story, and see my progress, at MyFitnessPal.
The Continuing Adventures
Josiah
Written by Josiah